Warji (Warjawa) or Sirzakwai is an
Afro-Asiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic ...
language spoken in
Bauchi State
Bauchi State (Fula: ''Leydi Bauchi'' 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤦𞤢𞤵𞤷𞥅𞤭) is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Kano and Jigawa to the north, Taraba and Plateau to the south, Gombe and Yobe to the ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...
. Speakers are shifting to Hausa.
[
]
Distribution
Warji is spoken in:Darazo
Darazo is a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Darazo.
Many Fulani people reside in the LGA.
It has an area of 3,015 km and a population of 251,597 at the 2006 census.
The postal code
...
LGA, Bauchi State
Bauchi State (Fula: ''Leydi Bauchi'' 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤦𞤢𞤵𞤷𞥅𞤭) is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Kano and Jigawa to the north, Taraba and Plateau to the south, Gombe and Yobe to the ...
*Warji district, Ningi LGA, Bauchi State
Bauchi State (Fula: ''Leydi Bauchi'' 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤦𞤢𞤵𞤷𞥅𞤭) is a state in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered by Kano and Jigawa to the north, Taraba and Plateau to the south, Gombe and Yobe to the ...
* Birnin Kudu LGA, Jigawa State
Jigawa State ( Hausa: ''Jihar Jigawa'' (Fula Leydi Jigawa 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤮𞤤 𞤶𞤭𞤺𞤢𞤱𞤢) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. Created in 1991 from the northeastern-most region of K ...
Morphology
Within the Bade–Warji languages
The West Chadic languages of the Afro-Asiatic family are spoken principally in Niger and Nigeria. They include Hausa, the most populous Chadic language and a major language of West Africa.
Languages
The branches of West Chadic go either by ...
, Warji has the most complex nominal plural marking system.[Blench, Roger. 2021. ]
The erosion of number marking in West Chadic Roger Blench
'. WOCAL, Leiden. Plurals are marked by the following suffixes.[Blench, Roger ]
Wordlist of the Sirzakwai (Warji) language with Hausa and English equivalents
'.
*-''tsǝ''
*-''sA'' (-''sǝ'', -''sa'')
*-''Aŋsǝ'' (-''ǝŋsǝ'', -''aŋsǝ'')
*-''(aŋ)ʃi'' (-''shi'', -''aŋshi''; stem-final -''i'' is assimilated)
These may be all allomorphs of a single suffix, with optional inserted nasals.
Suppletive nominal plurals are:
Notes
{{West Chadic languages
Languages of Nigeria
West Chadic languages